Stryker Rejuvenate Hip—Nothing but Agony

October 12, 2012, 2:00PM. By Jane Mundy

Burns, TNEwell was given a Stryker Rejuvenate hip when he had hip replacement surgery in late 2008, shortly after it was approved. He has been in agony ever since.

“The pain started immediately after surgery,” says Ewell. “I went back to my surgeon
three times over the first year and had multiple x-rays. He said that the pain was due to scar tissue from surgery and after a while it would go away. It never did.”

Now Ewell is concerned that his replacement hip is one of the models in the Stryker Orthopedics Rejuvenate Modular Hip System Recall. Since the Rejuvenate Modular Hip System and ABG II Modular-Neck stems recall in July 2012, many Stryker recall lawsuits have already been filed against the manufacturer by plaintiffs. Ewell is also worried that the pain may be due to metallosis—an adverse tissue reaction to heavy metals in the body.

There is mounting evidence that metal-on-metal hips are defective, and thousands of lawsuits have been filed by people who have metallosis, muscle damage, and total hip replacement failure. Ewell may be experiencing more than just ‘scar tissue’.

(Although the Stryker Rejuvenate is not a metal-on-metal hip device, the neck piece is metal. Under certain conditions this piece has reportedly rubbed against the metal stem, which caused metallic debris to come loose and can lead to metallosis.)

“My hip hurts more now than before I had the Stryker replacement,” says Ewell, age 65. “I’m retired and trying to build a new house—I have more time than money since retiring—but this hip is really slowing me down. Nine years later, I can’t lift anything more than about 30 pounds.”

After those three visits to his surgeon, Ewell gave up—he certainly wasn’t getting any answers. “Each time I saw my surgeon he said there was nothing wrong,” Ewell adds. “I never had a hip replacement surgery before so I didn’t know what to believe--except what I was being told. But six years ago I had a quadruple bypass surgery and had to go to cardiac rehab. I got talking to other people who had hip replacement without any pain or discomfort. They didn’t have a Stryker Rejuvenate though. Seems that in the past few years the pain gradually gets worse and the more physical labor I do, the worse it gets.

"Sometimes the pain keeps me awake at night and it wakes me up a few times during the night. I roll over and over and can’t get comfortable. I spoke to my family doctor--my surgeon has retired. He just said I need to go back to the bone and joint clinic and explain my problem to them. So that is my next step.

"I’m frustrated but I know there is nothing I can do until I go to this clinic. But I need to finish my house first for financial reasons. If I need a revision surgery, I may be even worse off; I can tell you that it isn’t getting any better.”